The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hibiscus, botanically known as Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘HJ-117’.
The new Hibiscus is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Seaforth, Ontario, Canada. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Hibiscus cultivars that flower early and have long flower longevity.
The new Hibiscus originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in Seaforth, Ontario, Canada in November, 2002, of the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis cultivar Byron Metts, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary Hibiscus rosa-sinensis selection, designated as code number HJ-136, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar HJ-117 was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Seaforth, Ontario, Canada in October, 2003.
Asexual reproduction of the new Hibiscus by vegetative terminal cuttings in a controlled environment in Seaforth, Ontario, Canada since January, 2004, has shown that the unique features of this new Hibiscus are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.